MADRID – Pedro Sánchez travels to China for the fourth time in three years to strengthen ties with Beijing, seen by him as a key strategic ally at a time of increased tensions with Donald Trump.

In the new turbulent geopolitical era dominated by an unpredictable, often truculent, American president, the Spanish prime minister has repeatedly clashed with Washington, becoming one of the EU’s most vocal critics of the US-Israeli military intervention in Iran.

His overtures to China could lead to new conflicts with Trump as well as putting Spain at odds with other Europeans as the EU is reduces economic and security dependence on Beijing.

“No Spanish prime minister has ever taken this approach towards China,” said Mario Esteban, Professor of East Asian Studies at Madrid’s Autonomous University, who is also senior expert at the Elcano Royal Institute.

Esteban noted Spain is now seeking to achieve a high level of engagement “to catch up” in a bilateral relationship that has been largely underdeveloped until now.

Regarding the debate over whether Spain is moving closer to China as an ally than to the US, professor Esteban dismissed this idea. He observed that trade relations – with the US as leading foreign investor – and cooperation in other key areas such as defence, are “far more significant at all levels than those with China”.

Esteban said Spain’s tone towards China is “more positive” than most other EU countries, who strike a more confrontational line. “This is what is causing friction,” he added.

The Socialist leader will arrive to China this weekend, officially kickstarting the visit on Monday 13 April.

During the visit, the prime minister and his wife will be hosted at a banquet by Xi Jinping, the Chinese president on Tuesday. Later in the day, Sánchez will join Li Qiang, the Chinese prime minister, to sign a series of agreements – with no further details on their content at this stage.

Spanish officials emphasise that this is a significant official visit, carrying greater political weight, as Madrid aims to strengthen relations with what they described as a key strategic partner, highlighting the positive ongoing dialogue between Sánchez and Xi, always in line, they stressed, with the EU’s approach and interests.

It is a state visit heavily focused on the economy where Madrid is looking to balance the acute trade deficit between both countries – €42.2 billion as of 2025 – and open the Chinese market to Spanish agrarian and industrial exports.

Sánchez will also meet with the EU Chamber of Commerce in China, seeking to attract Chinese productive investment to Spain, particularly in the technology sector, as he is set to meet with business leaders from the energy, automotive, and telecommunications sectors. The names of the companies that will be attending have not yet been revealed.

Already, the northeastern Aragón region is home to the largest Chinese investment to date, with Chinese battery manufacturer CATL and automotive firm Stellantis set to build a €4.1 billion battery manufacturing plant in Zaragoza.

Close ties

Since the Spanish leader took office for a second term in 2023, he has made already three visits to China, in addition to multiple regular visits by his ministers, and even that of the King and Queen of Spain last November, with many perceiving Madrid as being one of China’s closet allies within the EU though, not always without controversy.

Critics have questioned Spain’s reliance on technology from Chinese tech giant Huawei, particularly the use of their hardware equipment to handle sensitive judicial wiretap data. This sparked a major backlash last year, with contracts extending to other state departments in the security, transport, health, academic sectors.

Huawei’s presence in the country’s key infrastructure remains a highly contentious matter in Spanish politics, as the government scrapped several of these contracts over the past months. In parallel, the European Commission also set out a plan to phase out high-risk suppliers from critical sectors, including Huawei, viewing the company as a potential conduit for Chinese espionage.

“Spain has implemented a robust framework that is consistent with European objectives to strengthen cybersecurity and protect information and communications technology supply chains,” Amparo Valcarce, the Spanish defence secretary, told a parliamentary inquiry on national security last February.

Spanish officials confirmed Sánchez will visit in Beijing the headquarters of Chinese tech firm Xiaomi, however, they refrained from confirming whether Huawei representatives would be present at the meeting with senior representatives from the Chinese technology firms.

Professor Esteban said Spain sees a “window of opportunity” with China, with whom there is more scope to improve relations than with the US, particularly in trade and investment, “But we’ll have to wait and see what tangible results this engagement brings. That’s another matter.”

(bw, cs)